A mysterious metal buoy from the Soviet Union has washed up on a beach in Florida after Hurricane Irma.
Exactly where the 1,200-pound Soviet object came from, and what it was used for, remain a mystery.
The mysterious buoy washed off Dania Beach. With its “Гидрометслужба СССР” (Hydrometrical Service of the USSR) painted in black on its side, it looks like the strange Cold War relict belongs in a James Bond movie.
The huge buoy was found by workers at Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park just days after Hurricane Irma swept through town. They think it floated 350 miles from Cuba, given Cuba’s historically close ties with the Soviet Union.
According to the park rangers, the Coast Guards came running out of their offices with their dog and tried to confiscate the buoy. But the park ranger retrieved it before the Coast Guard could.
But what if this wasn’t really for the weather at all, or if it had a dual purpose?
The Soviets were Cuba’s chief ally and supporter from Fidel Castro’s rise to power in the 1960s until the Soviet Union collapsed in December 1991. In addition to providing large quantities of infrastructure and other aid to Cuba, they used Cuba as a base to monitor and spy on the U.S..
So, a good bet is the buoy, and probably many others just like it or similar to it, were placed by the Soviets as an aid to navigation for Soviet vessels bringing materials to Cuba or returning back to the USSR. In the chaos of the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the infrastructure placed by the Soviets simply remained in Cuba, including this buoy.
Navy investigative team check the buoy
In recent days in Dania Beach, two plainclothes men in a white pickup arrived at the state park. They identified themselves as members of a Navy investigative team.
They were there to check out the buoy. The two men then left without leaving any IDs and haven’t returned.
Meanwhile, the questions remain on what the Soviets used it for. The mystery is what it was used for and whether it was active or not. Those are the big unknowns.
Have the Soviets made measurements of the storm?
Thats weird!!